Help with deciding on an opening

Hi!

So i know that my openings need some work... especially for black against d4. any particularily solid ones i should explore? The site says i'm about 1000, i dont know how that translates to uscf rating in real life but some opening thats successful for that level.

If anybody is truly wanting to help, maybe they could chedk out my live games to get a sense of my playing style? i know i have a lot of mouse slips, but just any possible opening suggestions for either white or black, using or in response to e4, d4, or anything. I know there is probably an opening out there to like perfectly match my style, but i dont believe i've discovered it yet.

currently i usually play italian game as white, preferring the fried liver attack. dont really know any good d4 openings tho.

as black, i usually just shoot for italian (thats the first opening i learned, a while ago when i was in a chess class, so its the one i'm most used to). and i have no idea what to do against d4 (i've experimented a little with d5 or e6)

play the KIA against  d4.

Dont play Bc4 on ur third move as white in the italian. after 1.e4, e5 2.Nf3, Nc6

-Bb5 or d4 are the ONLY trys at an advantage at GM lvl.

-Bc4 is EASY to equalize as black, and offers too many winning chances for black.

however, the best first move i you want to play dynamically, is f4.

play a setup like f4, b3, Bb2, e3, Nf3, Be2, 0-0, d3, e4. the e4 push should be prepared more, but thats a general idea. If you want to avoid the from gambit, play b3 before f4. The other move order doesnt matter.

KID, no (if against d4)?. If so, I second this suggestion!

For your level, answering classicaly and keeping material is probably the best for your chess. Beggining with e4, answering e4 with e5 and d4 with d5. Your style hasn't developed fully yet so you should keep an open mind and not worry to much about openings. Playing "auto" openings like the KIA is a common pitfall for improving players.

My source for this information is John Watson (IM), he explains this stuff in depth in his forth volume on openings, and my old teacher (NM).

you shouldnt be worried about the opening fitting your style because you can play your style in most openings. openings are overrated. take for exampel the caro kann. karpov played it to get an endgameadvantage while topalov, one of the most aggresive players of our time also has the caro kann as a main weapon but he plays different lines of it to get complicated and dynamic play. the short  version is, pick the one you find the most fun:) as long as you are under 2000 rating 99% of the games you lose is because of other things like how good you understand tactics, strategy, endgame and such things

strategy slowly comes with experience. endgames- know the basic checkmates and k+p vs. k and that's about it. in terms of importance, openings are the eraser of a pencil, and tactics is the rest of the pencil

maybe (a big maybe) try the stonewall attack as white. it's a very ambitious opening where white goes for a massive kingside attack and checkmate. it's probably for around 1200-1600 uscf level.

I highly recommend sticking with e4 e5 nf3 nc6 bc4 if that's already what you do as White.

You don't really need to know what to do against d4 since it's not very common at 1000 level. Do what you normally do. Keep in mind, playing c5 before Nc6 is generally a good idea against d4. Otherwise, you get cramped.

imo you really don't "develop" a style until you're maybe 1600 uscf. You do have a playing style, though. But your playing style should definitely be aggressive. The only 2 things I still remember from one of my coaches way back when was: "Attack, attack, attack!" and "Passed pawns must be pushed!". And something about deciding between chocolate or strawberry ice cream.

And there was the sitting on your hands when it's your turn. Good concept, but I never actually followed that piece of advice.

Against d4? This would be my first option:

When I was first learning chess my teacher said play e6 as black no matter what first move white starts off with, and you will be plausible. 

If you're 1000, and you play others of the same rating approximately, play the Budapest, you'll kill :)

It's fairly easy to learn, as openings go, and while you watch your rating climb, slowly start working on something more mainline, if you feel the need.

Play e4 as White, e5 against e4 and d5 against d4.

The Evans Gambit is a good position to aim for as White (1e4 e5 2Nf3 Nc6 3Bc4 Bc5 4b4). It is a good teacher about position over material, and you are unlikely to enter a worse position from it Don't worry if GMs don't play an opening, at 1000 you are clearly not a GM (yet) and you are more likely to win by outplaying an opponent in the middlegame rather than an advantage in the opening.

I think that rather than playing a certain opening and learning all its variations--from which your opponents will deviate early, anyway--it's important to understand and use the basic principles of opening play:

Concentrate on control of the center.

Develop your pieces quickly and efficiently.

Try not to move a piece twice--don't move a knight around and around or retreat a piece because you recklessly put it in harm's way; that wastes time you could put to better use getting your other pieces out onto the battlefield.

It's hard to go wrong by so doing.